- Leicester City travel to face Premier League Chelsea in the Emirates FA Cup
- Sunday’s quarter-final tie presents an opportunity to return to Wembley Stadium
- FA Cup winner Marc Albrighton previews the 12:45pm kick-off at Stamford Bridge
- The midfielder has played a key role in City’s run to this stage of the competition
With a huge following expected in the capital this weekend, there will be plenty of backing for Enzo Maresca’s men at Stamford Bridge as they go in search of a cup upset against Premier League opposition.
After defeating AFC Bournemouth in the last round, courtesy of Abdul Fatawu’s stunning extra-time strike on the south coast, a second successive top-flight opponent awaits in Sunday’s 12:45pm kick-off.
“It felt really good,” Albrighton commented on the victory at Vitality Stadium. “Obviously with the changes that the Manager made, a few of the lads who have been playing regularly in the league stayed at home.
“Going away to a Premier League side, it was going to be a difficult game for us but the lads who came in were itching to play as well, so we showed that and our professionalism to keep ourselves ready for when called upon. We did that and it was a really good night.
“It took us until extra-time to go and win the game, but we played really well over the 90 minutes and could have nicked it in regular time. It wasn’t to be, but we kept going and showed our fitness levels as well and it was good to get minutes for the lads who haven’t played as much.”
One game from Wembley and a cup semi-final, Leicester head to London with the intention of coming away victorious but are aware of the challenge awaiting them against the eight-time winners.
“We’re looking at it as we’re going to win the game,” the midfielder outlined. “Obviously, they are a huge side, a massive club. They’ve had some incredible cup nights themselves and we’ll show them the respect that they deserve, but not too much respect in terms of the game itself.
“We’ll go there looking to win the game. We’re taking a lot of fans down to London so hopefully we can put on a show and make it a memorable day for them. I think if there’s one thing the Leicester fans can take from the last 10 years is that they’ve got the right to dream of big days.
“This would be a massive occasion if we can go there and get a win. We see ourselves as fully capable of doing that with the squad that we have and the way that we’ve proved we can play this season so it’s one we’re looking forward to.”
For Albrighton, the domestic cups have provided opportunities for minutes, starting all six ties across both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup this term, registering assists in round three and round four of this competition. The 34-year-old, who captained City in the previous round, is happy to contribute whenever selected by Maresca.
He added: “I want to play as much as possible, whether that be in the league or cup or whatever competition but the FA Cup is such a prestigious competition so it’s great to be a part of and great to play in at such a good level.
“I’ve loved it. We’ve had some good games against Millwall and Birmingham City. It’s been a good run so far and hopefully we can carry on. We’re excited. We’ve got confidence from those previous rounds.
“He (Maresca) has fully drilled it into us since day one, he won’t be looking to change for anyone. We’ll go there with our same system that we play in and we work on every day on the training pitch and hopefully we’ll have enough to get a result.”
All times GMT.